Detroit Riverside Hotel
| Crowne Plaza Detroit Downtown Riverfront | |
|---|---|
 |
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| General information | |
| Location | Detroit, Michigan |
| Address | 2 Washington Blvd |
| Coordinates | 42°19′41″N 83°02′51″W / 42.328°N 83.0476°WCoordinates: 42°19′41″N 83°02′51″W / 42.328°N 83.0476°W |
| Opening | July 24, 1965 |
| Owner | Gabriel Ruiz |
| Management | InterContinental Hotels Group |
| Height | 75 m (246 ft) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 25 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | King & Lewis |
| Other information | |
| Number of rooms | 367 |
| Website | |
| Official website | |
The Crowne Plaza Detroit Downtown Riverfront, is a 367-room, 25-story high-rise hotel opened in 1965 adjacent to Cobo Center in downtown Detroit, Michigan.
The Plaza Land Company was established in 1955 to construct a modern hotel on a site adjacent to the planned Convention Hall and Exhibits Building. In 1956, the company announced a partnership with Conrad Hilton to construct a $24 million hotel, to be named the Pontchartrain Hilton. However the Hilton Hotels Board vetoed the deal in 1960, after which the Plaza Land Company turned to Samuel and Aaron Gershenson's Downtown Investment Company, which assumed control of the project.
King & Lewis designed the Hotel Pontchartrain in the modern architectural style, with contemporary French interiors, and employing angular bay windows which provides every room with views of the International Riverfront and the city. The Pontchartrain was originally intended to have a twin tower, on the other side of the plot, but it was never built. The Hotel Pontchartrain was dedicated on July 24, 1965, the 264th anniversary of the founding of Detroit. It was built on the site of Fort Pontchartrain, Detroit's first permanent European settlement, built in 1701, which later became known as Fort Detroit. The hotel is named for the fort and for an earlier Hotel Pontchartrain, which was located on Cadillac Square at Woodward Avenue, before it was demolished in 1920.
George H.W. Bush stayed at the hotel during the 1980 Republican National Convention. In 1985, the Crescent Hotel Group, a subsidiary of Lincoln Savings & Loan purchased the Hotel Pontchartrain for $19.5 million. Lincoln S&L Chairman Charles Keating soon thereafter arranged to buy the hotel outright from the company and set up the Hotel Pontchartrain LP, controlled by Keating, his family, and executive contacts. The sale was financed by a series of ethically questionable loans from Lincoln and its subsidiaries and totaled $38 million. U.S. Senator Donald W. Riegle (D-MI) later cited his arrangement as his basis for considering Keating a constituent during his involvement in the Keating Five scandal.
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